October31, 2017

An October 2017 investigation by ProPublica found that many pharmaceutical companies produce eye-drops in over-sized doses, in some cases more than twice what the eye can hold, resulting in drug waste and excess spending; Following a March 2016 New York Times report that nearly $3 billion is wasted on cancer medicines that are ultimately discarded, Klobuchar and three other senators urged the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) to study the amount of waste generated by single use drug vials; HHS OIG’s subsequent review found millions of dollars in single use drug waste

Klobuchar and Grassley’s bipartisan Reducing Drug Waste Act of 2017 would require the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to develop a joint action plan to reduce drug waste and better manage costs with respect to drug vial sizes and other drug delivery systems like eye-drops

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to reduce single use drug waste. An October 2017 investigation by ProPublica found that many pharmaceutical companies produce eye-drops in over-sized doses, in some cases more than twice what the eye can hold, resulting in drug waste and excess spending. Following a March 2016 New York Times report that nearly $3 billion is wasted on cancer medicines that are ultimately discarded, Klobuchar and two other senators urged the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) to study the amount of waste generated by single use drug vials. HHS OIG’s subsequent review found millions of dollars in single use drug waste. Klobuchar and Grassley’s bipartisan Reducing Drug Waste Act of 2017 would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to coordinate with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a joint action plan to reduce this type of drug waste and better manage costs with respect to drug vial sizes and other drug delivery systems like eye-drops. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are cosponsors of the legislation.

“With the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs, American taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for medicine going to waste,” said Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan legislation would begin to address the problem of millions being spent on discarded drugs.”

“It’s no secret that wasteful health care spending is a significant contributor to the rising cost of health care in the United States. Costs over the last decade have skyrocketed. Causes include wasteful government spending, industry inefficiencies and uncompetitive practices, all of which harm consumers. For example, a recent report indicated that Medicare and private insurers waste nearly $3 billion a year on cancer drugs that are distributed in vials that hold too much medicine for most patients. This commonsense legislation addresses a part of the problem. We should also always be encouraging a culture in government that respects taxpayer dollars and expects fiscal responsibility and accountability,” said Grassley.

“From cancer drugs to expensive eye-drops, many drug companies insist on selling their products in excessively large, one-size-fits-all vials that contain more medicine than the average patient needs. This is a colossal and completely preventable waste of taxpayer dollars, and it means American patients and hard-working families are paying for medication that gets tossed in the trash,” said Durbin. “Instead of allowing the pharmaceutical industry to profit at our expense, it’s time we put an end to this wasteful spending.”

“As we continue bipartisan efforts to improve our healthcare system, it’s important that we include skyrocketing drug prices in the conversation. This bill will require agencies to produce data that will empower Congress with the necessary information to help reduce drug costs for middle-class families,” said Shaheen.

HHS OIG analyzed 20 single-use vial drugs with the highest amounts of identifiable Medicare Part B reimbursement for discarded drugs during 2013 and 2014 and found that $195 million was reimbursed for discarded drugs. The Reducing Drug Waste Act of 2017 would also require FDA and CMS to submit a report to Congress containing recommendations for any legislative action needed to address the issue of drug waste and better manage costs with respect to drug vial sizes and other drug delivery systems.

Klobuchar has championed efforts to protect consumers and lower prescription drug costs by promoting competition in the healthcare system, authoring multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation that would address the high cost of prescription drugs. Klobuchar and Grassley introduced the Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act to expand consumers’ access to the cost-saving generic drugs they need and increase competition by ending “pay for delay” deals—the practice of brand-name drug companies using anti-competitive pay-off agreements to keep more affordable generic equivalents off the market. In August, she introduced the Empowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act, which lifts the ban that makes it illegal for the government to negotiate prices for Medicare Part D prescription drugs for 41 million American seniors. Klobuchar and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) earlier this year also introduced the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, bipartisan legislation that would allow individuals to safely import prescription drugs from Canada. Klobuchar’s Short on Competition Act, introduced with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), would allow a company to sell a drug that faces little or no competition in the U.S. while seeking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval if the company already had approval to sell it in another country with similar safety requirements to the U.S and if the product has been on the market in that country for at least ten years. The Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act would prevent brand-name drug company tactics that prevent affordable generic drugs from entering the market.